"Hook, Line, And Sinker"

Luther W. Martin, Rolla, Missouri

Whenever anyone is so gullible as to unreservedly accept any false teaching that comes their way, we Ozarkians usually express it . . . "They swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker." Well, that seems to be the case of many people when it comes to religion, and particularly when some false prophet deposes and swears that the end of the world is upon us.

Merely because we see a thing in print does not make it the TRUTH. Merely because we hear it on the radio still does not make it the TRUTH. Only today, a radio advertising agency, operating internationally, approached me with a "big deal." They wanted to get our radio stations to broadcast the following drivel.

"According to a strange man in Jefferson City, Missouri, the Bible reveals the exact date of the Time of the End .... Thousands have been moved by the PROOF of this great revelation, and now he wants to share the date with You, along with proof that will SHOCK YOU!

"Yes, according to this noted Bible Authority, Jesus Christ will return before the end of the 20th Century. He wants to send you the EXACT date of two great events . . . . The exact day, month and year of The Time of the End, and the exact date that Jesus Christ shall come in the clouds.

"Yes, you will receive both of these dates along with Biblical proof. He will also send you the HARVEST NEWS LETTER MAGAZINE for 12 full months. This big magazine is just loaded with food for your soul.

"Listen closely, friends, because I'm going to tell you how to get both dates . . .. The exact date that Jesus Christ will return, and the exact day, month and year of The Time of the End. Both will be during the 20th Century . . .. Very soon, every man, woman and child will stand before God."

Of course, this commercial announcement goes into the usual song and dance, saying that . . . . "You must hurry . . . . This offer is limited." And so forth. In the above, I have copied the major portion of the announcement that they want broadcast to the radio audience.

Next, I'd like to quote briefly from the correspondence that accompanied the announcement copy. The agency's letter reads in part . . . . "Dear Sir: I am enclosing a pitch on "HARVEST" .... The hottest $1 P.I. (Dollar Per Inquiry) on the border. We have had it on over a year and it's STILL going great guns . . . . You should pull hundreds of orders out of Missouri and this deal goes over big around hillbilly and Gospel Music Shows as well as the preachers ...."

When newspapers and radio stations will grab for the almighty dollar to the extent that they will stoop so low as to publish such rubbish as that quoted, it is no wonder that the public becomes confused on matters of religion . . . . nor is it any wonder that some thinking people .... who think but do not "Search the Scriptures" for themselves, are caused to lose their faith in the Bible or in God.

What The Bible Teaches About The End Of Time

"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matt. 24:37-39.)

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come . . . . Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." (Matt. 25:42 and 44.)

"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (Matt. 25:13.)

"Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." (Luke 12:40.)

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10.)

It Has Been Done Before

No, this idea isn't original with the "noted Bible Authority in Jefferson City."

I remember just a few years ago, the Associated Press and the United Press news services carried a number of articles about a "Rev." Charles G. Long, of Pasadena, California, and his flock of 30 hoodwinked followers, who ".... prayed Monday (Sept. 17, 1945) as they waited for the end of the world on Friday."

"Laugh and scoff, if you wish," the "Rev." Mr. Long, a retired missionary said. "The end will be on Friday — and in a manner similar to the explosion of an atomic bomb."

"Long reasoned that the world must end this coming Friday (Sept. 21, 1945), since it did not end last Friday (Sept. 14, 1945)." These last quotations were copied from the Atlanta (Ga.) Journal, of Monday, September 17, 1945. Mr. Long's flock, called themselves the "Remnant of the Church of God." Two days later, the "Rev." Mr. Long, hedged a bit and stated that the end might not come .... "not due to any error of his calculation, but to the Lord's delay'."

The more such foolishness is spread, the less respect the world in general has for what is called Christianity. We'd have much less confusion if the world would learn WHAT the Bible teaches, rather than ASSUMING that it teaches ALL that some people CLAIM it teaches. In other words, don't accept it "lock, stock and barrel."